Chapter Ten
"It's—" Harry paused, leaning on Sirius for support. "Big."
"Yeah," Sirius agreed. He observed the room: a fireplace, a cozy, woolen rug, a couch on top of sleek hardwood floor. "Cozy."
"What is this place, though?" Harry asked. "Where are we?"
"And you're asking me?" Sirius snorted. "I'm not the best person to ask, Harry."
"Let's just get out of here," Harry said, trying to put as little pressure on his swollen foot as possible. "And go back home." Sirius couldn't agree more. God, it had been so long since he was back home with his godson just relaxing. The idea sounded so welcoming.
"We have to be careful of Malfoy," Sirius said in a whisper to Harry as the exited the room. "We have to be quiet and careful."
"I know that," Harry hissed. "So be quiet. You're not exactly whispering, Siri." Sirius scowled.
"I am."
"No, you're not."
"Yes, I am."
"You're not."
"I am."
"You're not."
"I am."
Harry let out an irritated grunt. "Let's just get out of here in peace, Sirius! I don't want to argue all the way."
"Right," Sirius agreed, clearing his voice. "But just to set things straight: I was whispering." Harry rolled his eyes, staying quiet to avoid another argument.
"Which door do we take?" Harry asked as they encountered two doors: one on the right, and one on the left.
"Er—I'm not sure," Sirius admitted. "Let's try the…left," he decided. Sirius opened the door, helping Harry through. He let Harry put a supportive arm around him.
"Ugh," Harry let out a noise of disgust. "I think I have a cobweb all over my face now."
"No wonder," Sirius said. "It's pitch black in here and OW!" Sirius cursed under his breath, stopping to baby his big toe. "Ow," he muttered again into the darkness.
"Stub your toe?"
"Obviously," Sirius said sarcastically. He let out an irritated breath before continuing through the dark hallway, Harry limping beside him with an arm around Sirius's shoulder. Sirius held his free hand in front of him, just a precaution in case he might run into a wall.
"I wish we had our wands," Harry said in a low voice to Sirius.
"So do I."
"Wait a second," Harry said, stopping to lean up against the wall. "Just need a break." His sentence was cut off by a yelp as he fell backwards into the wall.
"Harry?" Sirius called. "Harry, where are you? Can you hear me?"
"Yeah," Harry called back uncertainly. A light would have been really useful then, since his surroundings were covered with blackness. "I fell into the wall."
"You fell into the wall," Sirius repeated blankly. "Then how come I can't see you?"
"I don't know," Harry replied. "Lean against the wall." Harry waited in silence until he felt Sirius land beside him.
"Ouch," Sirius said, rubbing his back. He looked around, squinting. It was hard to make tell of anything. He knew it was a room, but there was no light, so it was difficult to tell what kind of room. "I bet the people who used to own this house used this room to torture people in." Harry shuddered.
"And you know this how?"
"I don't," Sirius replied, getting up from the floor. "I said 'I bet.' Which means 'I'm guessing,' and that also mightmean, 'I'm joking.'"
"Maybe if we lean against the wall again it'll take us back," Harry mused. "Try it, Siri." Hesitantly leaning against the wall, Sirius suddenly felt the wall move until he was standing back in the hallway; Harry soon joining him.
"Come on," Sirius said, hauling Harry up on his feet and putting an arm around Harry's shoulder. "Let's keep going straight." Harry agreed, closing his eyes momentarily to get rid of the headache that had developed. It didn't work.
"I see something," Harry said suddenly, squinting into the darkness. A speck of light caught his eye.
"Me too," Sirius said. "Come on, let's go a bit faster. I bet that that's the outside." As they got closer to the low beam of sunlight, the light temporarily blinded Harry. He wasn't used to it, since he had been locked up in a cell with no sunshine or light for god knows how many days.
"Just a bit further," Sirius urged. He was surprised to see that there was no door attached to the wall, just an opening.
"I'm blind," Harry said with a grin as they came onto the grassy land. Sirius let out a laugh, but quickly faded as his eyes adjusted to the light and he was able to see where they were.
"What the—" Sirius stopped in mid-sentence.
"A maze," Harry said blandly. "We're standing at the entrance of a maze."
"Seems like it," Sirius replied. "So we, what? Go through the maze until we come to the exit?"
"I guess so," Harry responded. He took his arm off Sirius's neck and tried to shake Sirius off of his neck.
"What are you doing, Harry?"
"We can't find the exit of this maze with me around your neck. I'm going to try to walk on my own."
"You're crazy," Sirius said. "You have a broken foot. You can't walk on your own." Harry frowned.
"I can try."
"You'll hurt yourself," Sirius pointed out. Harry ignored his godfather and took two wobbly steps away from him before falling.
"I did pretty good."
"Two steps, Harry."
"That's still good," Harry argued. He let out a gasp as a grassy wall shot up, blocking Harry from Sirius.
"Harry?" Sirius called out uncertainly.
"I'm…right here," Harry called back. "What happened?"
"I don't know," Sirius responded. "But if we can start walking through the maze, maybe we'll meet up with each other."
"I can't stand up," Harry replied, trying his best to stand on his feet. "You'll have to find the finish without me."
"I was right," said Sirius. "You are crazy. I'm not leaving you here."
"What's your other option, Sirius?" Sirius paused before answering.
"Finding you." Harry sighed, finding that he wouldn't win the argument. Extending his hand, Harry grasped onto a grassy branch that made the maze, trying to stand up, only to pull his hand back quickly as if he had gotten burned. He observed his hand, and then glanced at the wall of the maze. The branches felt like thorns digging into his palm.
"Don't grasp onto the branches," Harry called out to wherever Sirius was.
"Why not?"
"Trust me," Harry said. Taking in a deep breath, Harry held onto the branches once more, wincing as they pierced the skin of his palm. He was able to stand on his feet, but only one of them. Quickly letting go of the grassy, branch wall, he start to hop a few steps before falling back onto the ground.
"Harry?" Sirius voice called out.
"What?" Harry called back, wiping the blood onto his clothes.
"Nothing, I just wanted to see if I was any closer to you or not," Sirius replied. Not by the sounds of it, Harry thought. Sirius's voice sounded so far away and distant, Harry had to wonder whether or not Sirius was any closer to the finish or not. He wished the walls didn't feel like thorns, because then he could've leaned against the wall. He gave a sigh; this was going to be a very long day.
-
A/N: Well, I'm actually feeling a lot better. Better enough to write and post this, anyways. Thank you very much for the reviews.